Looking Ahead to 2025: Ethan Greenwood, QB, LIU

It took a while for LIU to turn the keys over to Ethan Greenwood—but once they did, the offense found its gas pedal.

A transfer from The Citadel, Greenwood didn’t open the 2024 season as the starter. But by midseason, he was running the show, and in a 186-yard outburst against Stonehill, he didn’t just win the job—he rewrote the playbook.

On first thought, you might note that 186 yards isn’t exactly an eye dropping number for QB passing. And you’d be right. But let’s be specific here- Greenwood got those 186 yards on the ground.

Suddenly, the Sharks were a different team with an offense that could be impossible to contain at times. LIU went 4-2 down the stretch with Greenwood under center, and in the two losses, they still held leads in the fourth quarter. The late-season surge earned Greenwood second team All-NEC honors and set the stage for a potentially massive 2025 campaign.

LIU already had an identity on offense and ran a little atypical. Greenwood got into the games, taking snaps in the shotgun or in the backfield as a threat. But despite his utilization, as it was LIU had fallen to 0-6. They were a good 0-6, to be fair, with lots of chances to win games that just didn’t bounce their way. But clearly, something had to change for the Sharks. Enter Greenwood as the starter.

What makes Greenwood such a challenge is that he doesn’t just run the offense—he is the offense. LIU tailored its scheme around his skill set, and while the passing numbers (921 yards, 6 TDs, 52.3% completion rate) might not turn heads, they’re not the full story. Greenwood rushed for 913 yards in his 12 games, averaging 5.6 yards per carry with 5 touchdowns. Had he started the entire season, his numbers would have certainly been higher. He turned broken plays into backbreakers for opposing defenses, looking more like a throwback slash player than a conventional quarterback. Think Kordell Stewart and you’re in the right ballpark.

(See? Being old and having a memory has its benefits sometimes.)

His success wasn’t a solo act. A talented offensive line gave him the freedom to freelance, and Greenwood paid it off by becoming a constant scramble threat that no defense in the NEC fully solved. That element of surprise might be gone in 2025, but Greenwood’s ability to disrupt the game remains firmly in place.

The question now is whether he can take the next step as a passer. LIU’s schedule opens brutally—with Florida and Eastern Michigan—but if Greenwood continues to evolve, the Sharks could quickly become a problem in the NEC. Opposing coaches will spend all offseason game-planning for him, and it still might not be enough. Greenwood forces defenses to defend every inch of the field—and then some. We’re excited to see if any of the defensive coordinators in the league have found an answer- clearly, the week before gameday wasn’t enough time in 2024.

Greenwood changes the way football looks in the NEC. Sometimes, the play breaks down. And sometimes, that was the plan all along.